Opening up the show was Good Old War - named after its founding members: Keith Goodwin, Tim Arnold and Dan Schwartz... unfortunately, as we‚Äôve previously mentioned, their drummer Arnold hasn‚Äôt been with the band for a while.

Their set was similar to their previously appearance with Kodaline in Oct 2015, like teasing us with a snippet of Montell Jordan‚Äôs ‚ÄòThis Is How We Do It‚Äô after ‚ÄòWindow‚Äô (they did that tease on ‚ÄòBetter Weather‚Äô previously).

The Friday night show was somewhat special, as it was Dan Schwartz‚Äôs birthday, which Keith Goodwin was more than happy to sing the traditional birthday song to him right after playing ‚ÄòConey Island‚Äô... later in their set, someone in the audience called out ‚ÄòJon Snow‚Äô, referring to Schwartz‚Äôs raven black hair and good looks. Schwartz responded, ‚ÄúI‚Äôll take it!‚Äù while Goodwin jokingly said, ‚ÄúChill out, don‚Äôt spoil that stuff for people!‚Äù

The band will go on tour with Detroit trio Empty Houses this June 2016. Check your local calendar and listing.

You have to remember that the band hasn‚Äôt done a major tour since The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy in 2012, which we saw at First Avenue. It was a large turnout then, and it was a large turnout on Friday night.

If you‚Äôre wondering why the band took so long to get back in the saddle, I know some of the band members had personal side project, including singer Matthew Caws, who had to take out a few years to devote to his side project Minor Alps with Juliana Hatfield (who we saw in 2013).

Setlist

The show started off with ‚ÄòCold To See Clear‚Äô, which is also the first song on the new You Know Who You Are album. Throughout their set, as seasoned professionals, they put in new songs between old favorites. This is how to ease fans to the new material.

For ‚ÄòInside of Love‚Äô, Caws asked the entire audience to do a two-step dance, because it‚Äôs cool to see everyone doing it at the same time. It‚Äôs the feeling of awe when he first saw George Carlin asking the crowd to do whatever he wanted... as the comic once joked, ‚ÄúNever underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.‚Äù

Of course, the real treat was the encore... or rather encores! Starting with ‚ÄòHyperspace‚Äô, followed by their big hit ‚ÄòPopular‚Äô and ‚ÄòAlways Love‚Äô (which had the whole audience singing along), and ‚ÄòBlankest Year‚Äô (from 2005‚Äôs The Weight Is a Gift).

The lights turned on, the house music came on, indicating that the show was over... People started leaving the venue. After a few minutes, fans who were still around got another treat: the entire band came back on and played ‚ÄòBlizzard of ‚Äò77‚Äô with a pair of acoustic guitars. It was unforgettable, the way the crowd was also singing back the lyrics, ever so quietly, as to not upstage the band on stage (who were singing off mic).

Nada Surf‚Äôs You Know Who You Are is available now on Barsuk Records. Their world tour continues:

Remember soul artist Allen Stone? We previously caught him in New York (October 2014) and wrote, ‚ÄúThroughout Stone‚Äôs set, he had much advice to give and anecdotes like officiating his bassist, Brent Rusinow, and his wife‚Äôs wedding. Halfway through his set, Stone announced that he was now an ordained minister, which ‚Äúonly took me ten minutes online‚Äù to do, and had been asked by a Rusinow to officiate his marriage. (Perhaps, dear fan, this means Stone can not only sing at your wedding, but also legally marry you and your significant other, or even do both at the same time!)‚Äù

Stone will be back in Minneapolis (he was previously in town last November 2015), touring in support of Radius (Deluxe Edition) (ATO Records). The record was made in close collaboration with Swedish soul singer/songwriter/phenom Magnus Tingsek and producers Benny Cassette (Kanye West) and Malay (Frank Ocean).

Special guests Jared & The Mill to open. We previously caught Jared & the Mill in June 2015 and noted that they have a large fanbase in Minneapolis.

I‚Äôll never forget seeing Emblem3 in November 2013 when they exploded out of custom crates.

The American reggae/pop trio (brothers Wesley and Keaton Stromberg, and Drew Chadwick) will be headlining the Varsity Theater next Wednesday, May 11th, in support of their 2016 EP Waking Up.

Before You Exit and The Ready Set to open.
You might remember we caught BYE with The Vamps last August 2015 and wrote, ‚ÄúAccording to the brothers, it was clear that Wednesday's show was "best show on the tour so far!" This must be in response to hearing their fans singing back some of their songs, including their new single "Model" and an Ed Sheeran cover "Thinking Out Loud".‚Äù

Update: BYE is no longer on this tour, Megan Nicole has been added and will take their place as opener.

We love Nada Surf, but after their 2012‚Äôs The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, the band took a lengthy break. It‚Äôs not that the band was inactive, in fact, we caught singer Matthew Caws with Juliana Hatfield with in their group Minor Alps in November 2013.

Nada Surf is back together, now with their eighth studio album You Know Who You Are on one of our favorite labels Barsuk Records. I‚Äôm pretty excited to learn that two songs on the new record were co-written by Dan Wilson of the local favorite Semisonic!

Good Old War will open. We previously caught GOW last Rocktober 2015 and really liked them: ‚ÄúThere were plenty of fan favorite songs on their set, fans loved hearing "Better Weather" (from their 2012 album Come Back As Rain), but with a nice nod to Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" snippet at the end of the song.‚Äù

Irish rockers Kodaline will be back in Minneapolis next Tuesday, October 6th. I guess the third time's the charm, as we previously saw them twice already in 2015: Varsity Theater (16 May 2015) and First Avenue (04 March 2015).
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Missed Philadelphia's Days Away since they broke up in 2008? If you were a fan, you'd likely have kept up with Good Old War, featuring Keith Goodwin and Tim Arnold
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Kodaline recently played an all-ages show at First Avenue in Minneapolis last Tuesday, October 6th.

Good Old War

Good Old War is an acoustic duo from Philadelphia (currently featuring singer Keith Goodwin and acoustic guitar player Dan Schwartz), from the ashes of Days Away.

The audience, which were mostly young women, caused Goodwin to joke about how much he "like to play in front of ladies" (which immediately got the audience to cheer). Of course, there were some men in the audience, as one male fan responded by shouting out, "You're my man! I love your tunes!"

There were plenty of fan favorite songs on their set, fans loved hearing "Better Weather" (from their 2012 album Come Back As Rain), but with a nice nod to Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" snippet at the end of the song.

Highlight of their set was a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia", which they introduced as a "song you should all know." With a limited 30 minute set, the duo only played two newer songs, "Small World" and "Tell Me What You Want From Me", taken from their latest album Broken Into Better Shape (Nettwerk Records).

Kodaline

Weâ€™ve been fans of, and have followed Irish quartet Kodaline, since they started coming to the Twin Cities over three years ago as openers; with an increasing fan base (especially locally), this was their third time in Minneapolis in 2015 alone! Clearly the band love playing here, we previously covered their earlier Varsity Theater (16 May 2015) and First Avenue (04 March 2015) shows.
With a sophomore album in tow, Februaryâ€™s Coming Up for Air (RCA/B-Unique Records), the band appropriately opened with the new â€˜Coming Aliveâ€™ from the new album with its chorus lyrics â€œYou canâ€™t hide the feeling, you make it rightâ€ to a receptive early evening crowd.

Singer Steve Garrigan then took to mandolin for â€˜Way Back Whenâ€™, a song that harkens back to their Irish childhoods, then went back to the lead song of their debut, â€˜One Dayâ€™. The rest of the band (Mark Prendergast â€“guitar/keys, banjo; Vincent May â€“ drums, percussion; Jason Boland â€“ bass, maracas, keyboards) mostly stayed in their places for the duration of their 80 min set, solidly anchoring the sound as the blonde Garrigan was front and center, often changing instruments.

After â€˜Brand New Dayâ€™, the band veered briefly from the printed setlist, playing instead â€˜The Oneâ€™, a romantic song dedicated to newlyweds Phil and Fiona, with the band encouraging cell phones to be lit and swayed in the air. Top ten Irish single â€˜Love Like Thisâ€™ started as a whisper and delicate piano riff, quickly ballooning into the anthem it is, with Mayâ€™s kick drum leading the way.

The new albumâ€™s first single â€˜Honestâ€™, one about lack of trust and betrayal, was bookended with the albumâ€™s fourth single, the gospel-inspired and redemptive â€˜Love Will Set You Freeâ€™ (its video directed by Friends alum Courtney Cox) that ended their main set.

Show highlight came with the two-song encore, the band crowding at the front edge of the stage, off-mic, to do a hushed version of â€˜Everything Works Out in the Endâ€™ to an enraptured audience of mostly females and couples that helped along with the chorus, and snapped along to the acoustic guitar.

The soaring â€˜All I Wantâ€™ with U2-like â€œwhoah-oh-ingâ€ by the band and crowd alike, ended the night to loud cheers and bright smiles. The Irish had landed in America again, and had gleefully come up for air in Minneapolis this night.

Duo Good Old War (Keith Goodwin and Dan Schwartz) will open on this tour. The vocal-guitar combo is from Langhorne, PA, and just this past June, they put finishing touches on their fourth album. The band was just recently in town earlier this July 2015.

MARIAN HILL have released an Aquilo Remix of their latest single â€œOne Timeâ€ from their Sway EP [Photo Finish/Republic Records]. The buzz continues to build around the duo with 20 million streams on Spotify
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With over 20 million stream son Spotify and 65 million loops on Vine, Marian Hill will soon be in Minneapolis next Tuesday at 7th Street Entry in support of her latest EP Sway (Photo Finish/Republic Records).

Missed Philadelphia's Days Away since they broke up in 2008? If you were a fan, you'd likely have kept up with Good Old War, featuring Keith Goodwin and Tim Arnold.
The band is currently on tour in support of Broken Into Better Shape (Nettwerk).